Network Logic - Index of

Developing the well-connected community
professionals or self-appointed community leaders acting as representatives
for the sector, and a failure to allow enough time for
relationships of trust, respect and understanding to develop between
partners and communities. Partnership boards have been under
pressure to spend budgets and find solutions to hitherto intractable
social problems. Unrealistic timescales set by electoral cycles and a
tradition of short-termism have created additional pressures. It is not
surprising that many are experiencing major difficulties in achieving
the ambitious targets set by government.
Developing ‘community’ networks
Despite this focus on service delivery there has been a growing
realisation that community engagement is not the same as voluntary
sector liaison. Community leaders have often been unpaid and undervalued
activists who are constantly asked to convey the (sometimes
unknown) views of their communities and to defend decisions over
which they feel no sense of ownership. Effective community
involvement in cross-sectoral partnerships can only be sustained,
therefore, on the basis of sufficient organisational capacity and strong
interpersonal connections. Communities are themselves complex and
dynamic, comprising overlapping but shifting networks and alliances,
used by communities to promote or defend their interests in an everchanging
environment. Communities exist where there is interaction
and mutual influence. Social networks express and reinforce a sense
of belonging, of mutuality, based on somewhat transient notions of
‘us’ and ‘them’. To varying extents, community networks comprise
neighbours, work colleagues, fellow activists, those who might share a
faith or hobby, or people who have faced similar experiences, for
example, through migration or discrimination. If this is the case, then
how can networks be shaped to contribute to stronger, more inclusive
communities?
The well-connected community
In the first instance, it is important to acknowledge that communities
have always contained differences and divisions, even where these
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